W. CONSHOHOCKEN, PA — ASTM International bestowed its 2008 President’s Leadership Award upon Richard Peri (vice president of government and industry affairs at the Aircraft Electronics Association (AEA) in Washington, D.C.), and Angie Shepherd, engineer at the National Personal Protective Technology Laboratory, National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health in Pittsburgh.

Established in 2007, the President’s Leadership Award recognizes individuals early in their ASTM career who have significantly advanced the Society’s mission through extraordinary accomplishment, example and vision.

A member of ASTM International since 2004, Peri is chairman of ASTM Committee F39 on Normal and Utility Category Airplane Electrical Wiring Systems, where he has worked closely with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to expedite the development of new safety standards on aircraft wiring systems. He is also an active member of Committee F37 on Light Sport Aircraft.

Peri spent more than 20 years as a member of the U.S. Coast Guard, where he worked on a wide range of aviation technical issues, including aircraft maintenance, repair and alteration. Prior to joining the AEA in 2002, he served as director of government affairs at the National Air Transportation Association.

At the AEA, Peri manages the association’s Washington, D.C., office as well as their international office in Cologne, Germany, and has served on several aviation rulemaking and advisory committees throughout North America, Europe and Australia. He was recently named to the FAA’s ARAC Executive Committee, where he will serve as assistant chair for general aviation certification and operations issues. He is a lecturer and the author of more than 100 articles on aviation regulations.

A graduate of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, FL, where he received a bachelor’s degree in professional aeronautics, Peri is also a private pilot and mechanic who holds both an airframe and powerplant license.